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Gwyn ap Nudd
Gwyn ap Nudd (Welsh pronunciation: ap ˈnɨːð, sometimes found with the antiquated spelling Gwynn ap Nudd) is a Welsh mythological figure, the king of the Tylwyth Teg or "fair folk" and ruler of the Welsh Otherworld, Annwn''The invocation of Gwyn, Medieval folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs: Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 190,, and whose name means “white son of Nudd”. Described later on as a great warrior with a "blackened face", Gwyn is intimately associated with the otherworld in medieval Welsh literature, and is associated with the international tradition of the Wild Hunt''The invocation of Gwyn, Medieval folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs: Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 190,. Gwyn in at least one poem is portrayed as a pshychopomp of fallen British warriors.Dialogue of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir His role as a psychopomp is paralleled in his later tradition as leader of the Wild Hunt, in which he leads a pack of supernatural hounds known as the[[Cŵn Annwn| Cŵn Annwn]] to harvest human souls. In Welsh folklore, to hear the baying of Gwyn's hounds was a portent of imminent death in the family.Reference needed In The Dialogue, Gwyn is also accompanied by a hound, namely as Dormarth of the ruddy nose. The celebrated fourteenth-century bard, Dafydd ap Gwilym refers to Gwyn in a number of texts, suggesting that the character was widely known in Wales during the medieval period. In Y Dylluan, he describes the eponymous owl as the "fowl of Gwyn ap Nudd", while in Y Niwl, he is described as the "trickster of men with his dark face" and his talaith (family or tribe, presumably the Tylwyth Teg) as talaith y gwynt, "the nation of the wind." Gwyn is again mentioned in Y Pwll Mawn, in which the bard tells an unfortunate autobiographical account in which he and his horse were almost drowned in a lake, described as the "fish lake of Gwyn ap Nudd" and "the palace of the elves and their children." Etymology and names Gwyn: "white" but with the connotations of "fair," and "blessed" or "holy." from common Brythonic Windos. Cognate with the Irish Fionn. Theories and Interpretations * Toby D. Griffen's 'The Pictish art of the Archer Guardian' purports to shed light on Pictish theology surrounding death, one of the chief elements of this is a great hound or hounds seemingly chasing the deceased into the afterlife, much like Gwyn's Cŵn Annwn. The Pictish art of the Archer Guardian, Toby D. Griffen, March 2000, http://fanad.net/csana00.pdf * Gwyn has many features in common with Fionn Mac Cumhail, their names both mean 'White' or 'Fair' with earlier connotations of purity, Gwyn is the son of Nudd (often accepted as a medieval for of Nodens) and Fionn is the grandson or great-grandson of his cognate Nuada, both are initmitely associated with hounds and the hunt, and both are associated with the woodlands. These similarities lead to some to speculate that they are both derived from a common deity or atleast heavily influenced eachother to the point of being near equivelant. Literary sources * Culhwch ac Olwen: Unknown, c. 1100, http://www.uwp.co.uk/editions/9780708326190 * The invocation of Gwyn, Medieval folklore: an encyclopedia of myths, legends, tales, beliefs, and customs: Carl Lindahl, John McNamara, John Lindow, Oxford University Press, 2002. p. 190, http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/gwyn2.html * The coversation between Gwyn and Gwyddno Garanhir, The Black Book of Carmarthen: Unknown, 13th Century, http://awenydd.weebly.com/the-conversation-between-gwyn-ap-nudd-and-gwyddno-garanhir.html Archaeological sources * None known Folklore sources References